Transcript Planning and Managing your Research Project Dr Keith Morgan www.shintonconsulting.com

Planning and Managing your
Research Project
www.shintonconsulting.com
Dr Keith Morgan
Session Objectives
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Work through a process for planning projects
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Understand how to relate these to your
research project
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Reflect as we go along
Discuss after this session
Apply these to conference planning
What does a project ‘look’ like ?
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Has a clear and specific objective
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Is someone’s responsibility
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Is any sort of planned undertaking which is
finite and bounded
Project Constraints
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Most projects operate under constraints
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What are the constraints on your project ?
Possible constraints
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Time
Clarity of scope
Access to literature / resources
Access to supervisor
Funding
‘Publishable quality’
Scope of your project
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What are you trying to achieve in your project ?
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Are you clear on the limits of your
investigations ?
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How will you know when the project is
complete ?
Beneficiaries
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Who will benefit from your work ?
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Who do you want to influence ?
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What impact do you want your work to have ?
Beneficiaries
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For your research area, who are the key
beneficiaries ?
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Think ahead to the impact you want your
research to have on your career - who needs
to know you and what you are doing ?
Project Management Tools
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Mind Map
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Drill Down
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Gantt Charts
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Risk Analysis
Mind Map
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Useful at the earliest stage of a project
Set out all possibilities and issues
Helps gives structure to project
Makes linkages more evident
Constructing Mind Maps
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Use single words or simple phrases - print ?
Use colour to separate different ideas
Use symbols and images
Using cross-linkages
For more information:
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newISS_01.htm
Test drive mind maps
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In the centre of the page, write a phrase which
summarises your research idea
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Now allow your ideas to flow..
project
Why am I doing research ?
for me
the future
Why is this project
happening ?
risks
How is it happening ?
(methodology)
impact
Who will benefit ?
Challenges
for me
project
Drill Down
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A technique to identify all tasks associated with
a project
Start on the LHS with the project objective
Identify obvious tasks
Break these down into smallest parts
List questions or points to clarify
Drill Down
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We have found a novel way to fund our
research!
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It will require careful planning
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We can drill down through the problem to
identify the key tasks and questions...
Research what is
in vault
Rob Bank
and get
away
Get a job in bank
Will the cash be
identifiable?
Involve a bank
insider
Where will we buy
construction
equipment?
Use press and
financial
knowledge
Has anyone done
this before?
Buy house nearby
Get into vault
Dig tunnel
Get away
How will money be
laundered?
Where do we lie
low?
Set up business to
hide soil removal
Get plans of
building
Buy construction
equipment
Test drive drill down
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You are required to plan and organise a
conference
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In small groups, drill down the different tasks
which must be achieved for a successful event
Projects and Risks
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Identify sources of risk
Assess likelyhood of risk
Assess magnitude of risk
Develop response
Risks… in that bank job…
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Get caught digging tunnel
Tunnel collapses
Route blocked by pipes / rock
Grassed up!
Vault empty / disappointing
Forensic evidence left
Sources of Risk in a PhD ?
Sources of Risk in a PhD
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Discover that someone has already done it !
My laptop with all my records is stolen
Unable to get hold of a key source
Supervisor leaves
Loss of motivation…
Risk Management
Likelyhood
Impact
Risk Analysis for your PhD
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To identify potential risks
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Review regularly and recognise slippage
Talk to more experienced researchers
Next map these against potential impact and
likelyhood
Finally, eliminate, minimise or develop
contingency plans
Structuring the project
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Use list of tasks to start Gantt Chart
Identify relationships between tasks
Estimate time for each task
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include: project management, detailed planning,
liaison with experts, meetings, information gathering
Ask for feedback on your plan
Activity
Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Month
1
Register
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
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Literature review
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Deadline for literature review
Prepare and rehearse presentation
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Presentation to School/Department
Documented meeting with supervisors
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Plan first research unit
Present outline of first research unit
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First research unit
Review and analyse research results
Survey of literature
Courses/conferences
Learning about methodology
Holiday
Second research unit planning
Second research unit
Drafting transfer report
Finalise transfer report
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Deadline for transfer report
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Transfer viva
Visit from leading professor
13
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Gantt Charts
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lay out the tasks that need to be completed
show when these tasks should be carried out
assist the allocation of resources
help you to work out the critical path for a
project where you must complete it by a
particular date
Monitoring Progress
Time Now
Activity A
Complete
Activity B
Behind
Activity C
Complete
Activity D
Ahead
Activity E
Behind
Activity F
Activity G
Anticipated
Activity H
Actual
Behind Schedule ?
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Report the implications of delays
Discuss changes in plans
Direct resources
Avoid persecution
Respond early
Be flexible
Involve your supervisor(s) and others
Final thoughts
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Project management is a set of tools not a straightjacket!
It should be dynamic, but have regular, fixed reviews of
progress
It can help with communication and to check on common
understanding
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Between you and your supervisor / sponsor / colleagues
It can be difficult to apply these ideas at the very start of
your PhD, but you should be able to identify scope,
constraints, risks, time structure fairly soon…
Thank You